All That's Old Is New Again
by rgm0005
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke learnt the hard way that if you're not sure it'll work, you shouldn't mess around with the fabric of space and time.
1. Chapter 1: An Old Beginning

**All That's Old Is New Again**

When Naruto woke up, it was to the face of a six year old Orochimaru.

That well and truly scared the fuck out of him.

He responded immediately, unleashing a battle cry and attacking. Biased observers might have called it a girlish shriek, but said observes would have had a critical lack of faith in Uzumaki Naruto. It was most definitely a battle cry; there was just something wrong with his voice.

He didn't have time to worry about it, though, because a more pressing issue. He'd swung his right fist at the miniature Snake Sannin's face…and he'd missed completely. Somehow, it had fallen short, as if he'd misjudged the distance between them.

Orochimaru looked at him with disdain.

"Dobe, this is _your_ fault." He said.

Naruto immediately wanted to punch him in the face.

He blinked. He'd know that sudden desire to inflict bodily harm anywhere.

"Teme? Is that you?" He asked.

Orochimaru – no; Sasuke simply sneered.

"Holy Shit, it is you. You look…like Orochimaru." He said. "Only tiny. And…"

Naruto trailed off when Sasuke lifted a hand-mirror, showing him his reflection.

"And I look like Jiraiya! What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed, swiping the mirror from Sasuke.

"You did something wrong." Sasuke stated matter-of-factly. "We've been sent back in time, but we went too far back. We're both six years old and we've just passed our genin exams. And no, it's not just our bodies that changed; the faces of the Fourth and Fifth aren't on the mountains anymore and the Third's looks new."

Naruto was in the process of panicking, but he did his best to suppress the feeling. Now wasn't the time.

"We're genin? Already?" He asked.

Sasuke frowned at him.

"While you were asleep, I've been busy. It's the day after the Genin Exam and we were both on the list under Sarutobi Hiruzen. The third member of our team is, naturally, Tsunade."

Naruto blinked.

"How do you know that?" He wondered.

"I snuck into the Academy."

Naruto blinked again.

"…Why?"

Sasuke sighed.

"In case you didn't notice, we're in the bodies of Orochimaru and Jiraiya when they were children. I don't know about you, but I have _no idea_ how Orochimaru acted as a kid. Did Jiraiya tell you all the details of his childhood while you were training with him? About when he was _six years old or younger_?"

Naruto was silent at that.

"I didn't think so. I couldn't really go around and ask people how I was supposed to act, either, so I snuck into the Academy to get my records. Here." Sasuke handed him a small stack of paper. "That's your file. I copied everything important. I couldn't take the actual file, so it's not perfect, but it'll have to do."

Naruto took the papers and quickly began to flip through them.

"You make it sound like we'll be going under cover." He said distractedly.

"Do you know how to get back to the future?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

He froze at that.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

The former Sharingan User turned and began walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"To see what I can do with this body. We've been stuck into little children and have been reduced to genin-level ability _at best_, and in, oh, two hours we're going to go fight the Third Hokage at his prime."

Naruto sat silently for a moment before leaping out of bed and scrambling after his friend.

**XxXXxX**

Naruto and Sasuke stood in one of the training grounds of the Academy. It was one of the few that were open to anyone at any time. The equipment was poor, the area wasn't well tended, and it wasn't very large, but since they couldn't get into any of the _good_ training grounds since they weren't even genin it would have to do.

"So…" Naruto began. "What do we got?"

Sasuke frowned down at his hands.

"I'm…close to average for a genin, with is pretty impressive for a six year old, I guess. According to my records, I have Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin, but I could probably use a few other E Rank jutsu without drawing suspicion. Nawanuke is the only other jutsu of that Rank that I know, though. Using anything higher could be suspicious, so I'll stick with those for now." He suddenly scowled. "Of course, I don't have my Sharingan. I don't think my affinity is Lightning anymore, either."

Naruto winced at that.

"Look, Sasuke…I don't have a way back _yet_ but-"

"I figure I should be the bearer of bad news." Sasuke interrupted. "You don't have the Kyuubi _or_ your massive chakra supply anymore. So even if you did have a technique that could warp the fabric of space and time and cast us back into the future, we probably couldn't pull it off."

Naruto fell silent at that.

Sasuke sighed.

"We'll just have to manage. We went back to far, but we can still change things, I suppose. At least until we figure something out."

Naruto nodded.

"So…Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin, huh? Against the Third Hokage? Man, this is gonna suck." Naruto said. "Well, on the bright side, Ero-sennin said that his team had the Bell Test, too. So all we need to do is show teamwork, right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Passing shouldn't be a problem." He said. "I'm more worried about what comes after that. Orochimaru wasn't really big about telling me about his life as a genin, so I have no idea what to do. We'll just have to do what we think is right, which is fine, since that was the idea of coming back…but I'm worried how far spread the changes could become."

Naruto shuffled for a bit, realizing Sasuke was right; he had no idea what he was supposed to do as a miniature Jiraiya.

"I'm sure it'll all work out somehow." He said after a moment. "We'll make it work out."

**XxXXxX**

Later, Naruto and Sasuke stood beside a confident looking Tsunade. The watched as Sarutobi set a clock as Kakashi had done years before. Or decades in the future. Whatever.

"Ok, it's set for noon." The cheerful looking Third said. It seems even now he was fond of children. Your task is to take these from me before noon. The one who doesn't get a bell gets no lunch either. I'll tie you to a stump and eat your in front of you."

Suddenly, his cheerfulness was somewhat off-putting. Still Naruto and Sasuke knew this song and dance, so they were just surprised that the 'eat your lunch in front of you' hadn't been something Kakashi had made up.

Apparently, dickishness was traditional.

"You only need to get one bell." He said. "But since there are only two, one of you will definitely be tied to a stump. And that person fails and will be sent back to the Academy. You can use whatever you have; you won't win unless you come at me with intent to kill."

Last time around, Naruto and Sakura had commented on that, since none of them had really known what a Jounin could really do.

This time, no one said anything. Sasuke and Naruto were well aware this guy could backhand Jounin into orbit if he felt like it and Tsunade was related to the previous Hokages so she probably knew what that title meant as well.

Sarutobi smiled at their silence.

"Go."

Sasuke reacted first, throwing a smoke bomb to the ground, grabbing Tsunade, and leaping away, Naruto following a step after. He landed when they were out of sight, covering Tsunade's mouth.

If this was a real fight, he probably would have tried to go further into the forest, but Sarutobi wasn't trying to kill them and it's not like they could actually escape from him anyway, so it didn't matter.

Without moving his hand, he quickly began to speak, mostly because Tsunade was beginning to look angry.

"Let's get the obvious out of the way; he's the Hokage, we're genin, and we have no chance." He said before releasing her. She immediately moved away, turning to keep her eyes on him, but she thankfully remained silent. "In one-on-one fights, we have no chance. In a three-on-one fight, we still have no chance. If he doesn't want use to get the bells, we won't get them, and that's that."

She frowned but didn't refute the point.

"There has to be more to this test. He'll pass us if we do a good enough job, or if we do something right, or something."

"What do you purpose?" Tsunade asked.

"Work with us." Naruto asked. "If nothing else, it might be a bit less humiliating when he beats us."

Here frown deepened, but after a moment, she sighed.

"Okay. But what do we do about the bells? There are only two of them."

Sasuke chuckled.

"You think we'll actually get the bells? Against the Hokage?" He asked, smirking.

She sighed again and shook her head.

"I hope your right about him passing us if we do a good job." She said.

**XxXXxX**

Their plan was simple, simply because they didn't have that much to work with and they knew they couldn't actually beat their opponent. Also, Naruto and Sasuke were aware that they had already passed.

Now they just had to endure until Sarutobi said enough was enough.

Naruto created two Bunshin and sent them towards Sarutobi. The Third took a single glance at them before dropping his eyes to their feet. Seeing no shadows, he ignored them in favor of looking towards the trees the clones had come from.

And there he saw Jiraiya swing a windmill shuriken at him. He absently leaned to the side, letting it sweep past him. There was something wrong with this picture, he felt.

Did Jiraiya even bring a windmill suriken?

Sarutobi was pretty sure he hadn't, and so he wasn't that surprised when he heard the shuriken transform back into Jiraiya behind him. He stepped to the side, dodging the thrown kunai, still pondering the situation.

There were two Jiraiya with physical presence, plus two clones that were probably here to confuse things. He reached out with his senses and found the explination.

The Jiraiya in the tree was Orochimaru and the Jiraiya behind him was the real Jiraiya.

Sarutobi was a bit happy they'd decided to work together, but where was Tsunade.

The kunai Jiraiya had throw landed in the ground-

And in a flicker of motion native to the Kawarimi, it was replaced with another Jiraiya, who he identified as Tsunade. The third genin immediately brought her hands together into the seals of Ram, Snake, and Tiger, creating two Bunshin of her own.

Sarutobi felt a smile tugging at his lips as two genin and four clones surrounded him. The one in the middle in front of him was Tsunade, the one behind him and to the left was Jiraiya.

The only question was…

Would Orochimaru be joining the fun?

There was a sudden whistle and all the Jiraiya's immediately backed off. As soon as they were out of range, a rain of shuriken descended on Sarutobi.

Who promptly turned into a log.

He reappeared behind Orochimaru, who was already on the Ox Seal of Kawarimi. He allowed him to finish before attacking, just to see what he would do.

He ended up striking one of the shuriken that had just been tossed at him.

"Hm…" Sarutobi hummed in amusement.

Now there were seven perfect copies of Jiraiya in the middle of the training area and with three seals, two more appeared.

Sarutobi was proud of his team, for he was already thinking of them that way. They were already working well together. He wasn't sure if they'd understood the purpose of this test or just banded together out of necessity, but the results spoke for themselves.

He was satisfied that this test was over, so he put his hands together in a Ram seal and used Shunshin.

Jiraiya found himself flying through the air a moment later, but he didn't realize his sensei had thrown him until he crashed into Tsunade, dispelling her Henge. Orochimaru had just enough time to widen his eyes before Sarutobi appeared in front of him, grabbed him by the face, and tossed him into his teammates, where they fell in a buddle of sprawled limbs. The immediately tried to recover, but their actions merely hindered each other.

"You pass." He said, looking down at the defeated genin. "Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will begin its duties!"

Tsunade looked up at him from the bottom of the pile.

"Yay." She said, drily.

**XxXXxX**

"That went as well as could be expected." Sasuke said later. Now that they were officially genin, they could use one of the better training areas, though those limited to higher ranking ninja were, naturally, still restricted.

Naruto nodded at that as he finished his stretches. Now that they didn't need to worry about exhausting themselves before their Genin Exam, they could actually train. Earlier, they had just tested how good their bodies were.

First things first; tree climbing.

"I'll go first." Naruto said, slowly walking towards the tree. Normally he'd just run up it, sure that he'd be fine, but that was with his own body. As a six year old, if something went wrong and he fell, he'd prefer not to fall too far.

It turned out to be a good move, as the surface of the tree's truck exploded and he was thrown away.

"Damn it!"

"Too much chakra." Sasuke stated the obvious. "Well, these bodies _do_ weigh a lot less then our own. Let me try."

Sasuke tried, carefully controlling his chakra, but he ended up not using enough. He took a step onto the tree and had to catch himself as he began to slide down it.

"Tch."

Naruto sighed.

"Differnet bodies, different affinities, and different amounts of chakra…this is going to take some getting used to."

**XxXXxX**

In the end, they managed to do it in one night, thanks to their experience with the technique. It had taken them awhile to adjust to their new weights, but they'd managed.

They showed up at the training ground exhausted, though. Having the chakra capacity of a six year old was something they were going to have to do something about.

Until then, they'd have to make do with using what they had precisely.

But they had shown up, ready for the first mission of the team they knew would become famous across the continent. Mainly because they knew from experience that it would be anticlimactic.

It was.

Sasuke held the watering can casually as Naruto weeded the garden nearby and Tsunade planted seeds. They were taking turns with the jobs and Sasuke had already weeded and planted.

They were ninja, if very young ninja, so this wasn't hard by any stretch. But it _was_ boring and it _was_ taking a long time.

Still, Naruto had experience with gardens and didn't mind the work. And both Naruto and Sasuke had been through so much worse than boring gardening that they just didn't care. Tsunade didn't seem to mind, but then, she was the granddaughter of the First.

Their sensei was off to the side chatting happily with their employer.

Two hours later, they were collecting their pay.

All in all, the first mission of the Sannin passed without incident.

"Good job, Team Seven." Sarutobi-sensei said after they followed him back to their training ground. "Now that you've completed your first mission as Genin, I think you deserve a reward."

He held up his hands in the Ram Seal before flickering out of existence and reappearing a ways to the side.

"This is the Shunshin. It's a D-Rank technique and it's expected for most genin to learn it soon after graduating and, since it's such a useful technique, I'll teach it to you today. As you saw, the Ram seal is the only one needed to perform it, so it's actually simpler than most of the jutsu you learnt at the Academy. To use it, you simply need to vitalize your body with chakra to allow yourself to move quickly. You should all be able to learn it pretty easily, but I'll be here just in case something goes wrong."

**XxXXxX**

With their recent chakra control training and Tsunade's natural skill, they all managed to perform it properly after just one or two tries.

But Sarutobi had made them perform it more than that. Indeed. He made them Shunshin from one side of the training field to the other and back again. Then he made them do it again. And again. For the better part of an hour, he made them practice that one technique.

He probably would have kept them at it, but Naruto and Sasuke, who'd trained late yesterday, gardened today, and then trained more with their sensei, had looked ready to drop in exhaustion.

As the two boys dragged themselves home, Naruto spoke up.

"We should work more on our chakra control. I'm pretty sure I started using too much after the first forty Shunshins."

Sasuke honestly wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but he groaned either way.

"I'm not going to try walking on water in this state; I can barely walk on the _ground_ and drowning to death because I was too tired to swim would be the most humiliating death ever."

"What am I, an idiot? Don't answer that." He said when Sasuke opened his mouth. "I know we're in no shape to walk on water, but we should still practice. There are ways that take less energy, anyway; remember the Leaf Concentration Exercise?"

Sasuke stared at him blankly for a minute before remembering something.

"That thing from the Academy?" He asked. That seemed so long ago…

"Yeah! You just put a leaf on your forehead and concentrate your chakra onto it."

"…Isn't that kind of rendered obsolete by Tree Climbing and Water Walking?"

"You'd be surprised; that thing helped me master the Rasengan."

Sasuke wanted to further question the usefulness of that old technique, but he honestly didn't have the energy.

It's not like he was against training, anyway; he was just exhausted. And if it really did help…

"Fine; if it means I can go home, I'll walk around with a leaf on my forehead." Sasuke conceded with a sigh.

**XxXXxX**


	2. Chapter 2: Genin Days

**All That's Old Is New Again**

**Genin Days**

"Orochimaru, why do you have a leaf on your head?" Tsunade asked.

Sasuke sighed.

"Because Jiraiya felt we should do the Leaf Concentration Exercise and I don't have the energy to argue." He answered truthfully.

"…Ah." She said, not really understanding.

"It's a chakra control exercise that teaches concentration, for only those who concentrate can become good shinobi." Naruto explained happily. He was probably trying to sound wise, but Sasuke had been there when Iruka had given the speech he just butchered and wasn't impressed.

Sudden, a hand landed on both of their heads.

"It's nice to see you boys working hard. And I'm glad you were paying attention in the Academy, Jiraiya; sometimes it's the basics that will save your life." Their teacher said, appearing out of nowhere.

Sarutobi appeared to ponder something for a minute.

"Haaa…well, I was going to wait a little while before teaching you this, but since you're practicing your chakra control anyway, I suppose there's no reason not to." He said, seemingly speaking more to himself then to them. "It's an advanced genin skill, but I suppose that if I'm here to watch over you, there shouldn't be a problem."

He clapped his hands, nodding.

"Okay, team, today we'll be learning tree climbing."

As one, the three genin looked at each other and shrugged, murmuring their consent. Naruto and Sasuke knew what he was talking about, but they'd spent a night working on it and had mastered it in another life. Tsunade had amazing chakra control, so she'd probably get it on the first try like Sakura did.

Of course, Sarutobi probably didn't know that, so he just smiled.

"But we'll be climbing…_without using our hands_!" He said, watching their reactions.

Tsunade, child of a clan of ninja, including the founder of the village, didn't react, but he hadn't really expected her too. Surprisingly, the boys didn't react either.

He felt a bit put-off, but suppressed the feeling, walking towards, and then up, a tree. The genin followed him with their eyes.

They weren't impressed.

He sighed.

"Tsunade, you first." He said, jumping to the ground. "Gather chakra at the bottoms of your feet. This exercise will teach you how to bring the proper amount of chakra to the proper point. Amount of chakra needed is small, but it needs to be precise and the bottom of one's foot is the hard place to mould chakra. In addition, it works as stamina training."

Tsunade nodded to show she understood. She made a hand sign to mould her chakra and, as the two boys had expected, walked up the tree with no difficulty.

"Very good, Tsunade. Your chakra control is excellent." Their teacher praised. "Orochimaru?"

Sasuke shrugged. He briefly thought about trying to hide his true skills, but he didn't see the point and he didn't believe he could actually fool the Third. He walked up a different tree until he was level with Tsunade. The leaf on his forehead never moved from it's place.

"I've done this exercise before, sensei." He admitted, seeing his sensei's surprised face. "Because I was having trouble with my chakra control."

"Me too, sensei!" Naruto shouted from down below, but he was already climbing the tree after his friend. "We learnt it together."

Sarutobi looked at them carefully for a moment before sighing and smiling.

"Well, I suppose I should be happy that by students are so ahead of the curve, even if my training schedule just went out the window." He said, before pondering for a moment. "Normally, I'd say it was a bit early, but since you've already worked on two forms of chakra control…"

He frowned suddenly.

"None of you can walk on water, can you?"

The trio shook their heads.

"Good, good…" Sarutobi said to himself. "Let's get a mission; after we finish it, I'll find an appropriate spot for you to train."

**XxXXxX**

They walked into the mission's office and Naruto and Sasuke were a bit surprised to find that they weren't alone.

It was stupid, but since they didn't have any memories prior to waking up on the day of their Genin Exam, they didn't remember 'their' time in the Academy.

That included, of course, the people they would have gone to school with.

'Oh, shit.' The duo thought as one.

"Orochimaru." An older boy said with brown hair as soon as they entered. "I heard you became a genin."

Sasuke was relieved. The boy's words weren't hostile, but there was a definite hint of contempt in his tone.

They probably weren't friends, meaning that he didn't have to _act_ friendly with someone he knew nothing about.

He closed his eyes and smirked.

"Hmph." He said, brushing past the older genin without a second glance.

They'd dodged that bullet, but there were two more genin and a Jounin instructor in this room; they need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Later tonight, he could break into the Academy again and find the records of everyone else who was in their class, but for now he needed to be as far away from these people as possible.

He heard people talking behind him, but he forced himself not to look back; he had to hope no one was trying to rope Naruto into a conversation.

He sorted through the mission scrolls as casually as he could, found one for grocery shopping, noticed it was on the other side of the village, and asked the elderly man at the desk if he could take it, thanking the fact that they were taking turns choosing missions all the while.

He nodded in thanks when the man handed him a scroll, and was relieved to find that no one was talking to Naruto when he turned around. The genin he'd dismissed was beside his teammates, muttering bitterly while the second boy on his team, a child with black hair, seemed upset with him. Noticing his gaze, the second boy waved at him.

Sasuke nodded at him, suddenly worried that someone who knew Orochimaru was going to talk to him, but he, thankfully, seemed content to stand by his team.

Their jounin sensei was talking to Sarutobi. Knowing it had didn't actually have a justifiable reason to interrupt him, Sasuke moved to stand by his team instead.

"Ah, found your next mission, huh? What's on the menu for today?" Sarutobi asked after noticing his student had come back.

"Grocery shopping for an elderly couple on the other side of town." He said, relieved that they could finally go.

A sudden new voice crushed his hopes.

"I'd heard you'd gotten yourself saddled with some kids, Hiruzen, but I didn't really believe it until now."

Sasuke turned at the unfamiliar voice, finding its origin in a man leaning against the entrance.

But while the voice was unfamiliar, the face wasn't. Sasuke recognized that x-shaped scar on his chin in an instant.

"Danzo!" Sarutobi chided immediately, but Sasuke was surprised to note he was smiling.

The young Danzo pushed off the doorway with a laugh and walked towards them.

"So…gonna introduce me?" He asked their teacher with a smirk.

Sarutobi immediately complied.

"This is Tsunade, but I'm sure you remember her." He said, confusing Sasuke.

"Hashirama-sensei's granddaughter." He nodded with a smile. "I knew your grandfather and his uncle better then I knew your father, but we've met before. You might have been a bit too young to remember, though…"

"Sorry." Tsunade apologized, though Danzo waved it off.

"How's your grandmother doing?" He asked.

"Ah…Honestly, I think she's a bit lonely…" Tsunade said.

Danzo immediately looked at Sarutobi.

"Maybe her husband's student should go visit her."

Sarutobi sighed.

"I try! But I've been so busy with the village and now I have students and…"

He trailed off with another sigh as Danzo clucked his tongue.

"I'll try to visit her tomorrow." He said. "This is Jiraiya."

Danzo nodded to Naruto.

"You have them practicing the Concentration Exercise?" He asked their teacher, gesturing to the leaves.

"No, actually; they decided to practice themselves." Sarutobi said proudly.

"Proactive. I like that." Danzo said, smiling at the two boys. "Are you going to teach them the Tree Climbing Exercise?"

The Hokage chuckled.

"They already know it."

Danzo looked surprised.

"All three of them?"

Sarutobi nodded.

"Well, I guess if they graduated at six, it's to be expected that their good." He said. "What about Water Walking?"

"I'll be teaching them later today, after they're done with their mission. I already taught them Shunshin." Sarutobi said.

Danzo looked impressed, before turning to Sasuke.

"And who would this be?" He asked.

"This is Orochimaru." Their teacher supplied.

"Ah, I've heard of you. You should hear your teachers; Hibiki-san won't shut up about his favorite student." Danzo said, good-naturedly.

Sasuke nodded his thanks, not trusting himself to speak.

"And this is my friend, Shimura Danzo." Sarutobi continued, not knowing that only Tsunade was unaware of whom this man was.

"Hello, Danzo-san." Tsunade said.

"Hello." Sasuke forced himself to echo. Naruto just waved, thankfully staying silent.

Danzo looked at them speculatively.

"You said you taught them Shunshin?" He asked.

Sarutobi immediately caught on and chuckled.

"Everyone, let's hurry; we have a mission to do." He said, putting his hands together in the Ram seal.

Sasuke mimicked him immediately, grasping to chance to leave.

**XxXXxX**

Naruto never thought he'd actually say he was glad to be getting groceries for old people, but since it got them out of that room, he'd say it now. Especially since it gave him time to think.

Like Sasuke, he'd suddenly realized how deep they were in.

They were genin now and six year olds at that. There were a lot of things they were just going to have to put up with until they proved themselves. It may have been a small thing, but it was something Naruto noticed at every turn.

Nobody knew him in this time. Maybe it was stupid, but he'd never quite gotten over his desire to be acknowledge. And he had been!

In the future. In a different life, really.

He was special in this time, too, as a child who made genin at such a young age and as the student of the Hokage. But nobody knew who he really was.

And that was the least of his problems.

This body was so weak. Well, for a six year old, it was strong, but for Naruto it was weak. He was going to have to retrain from scratch. Granted, he'd been aware of that issue when he'd used time travel. They'd been aiming for somewhere between their Genin Exam and the Chunin Exam, after all.

But even then, they'd have been way better off. Sasuke would still have the Sharingan and he'd have the Kyuubi and his massive amount of Chakra. He would still have been able to use Senjutsu to make up for his young age, if need be, and Sasuke could remember everything he'd learnt and copy new stuff. With their knowledge of the future, it would only take one or two years to become as strong as they'd been, if that.

It was going to take more than one or two years to become that strong with these bodies.

Hell, it was going to take longer than that to reach _puberty_.

He still knew how to use Senjutsu, but he didn't have the chakra for Sage Mode anymore. And without the ability to spam clones, a lot of his techniques and strategies went out the window. He was going to have to come up with a completely new style of fighting until he built up his reserves and his body.

And Naruto was almost certain that Jiraiya's Elemental Affinity wasn't Wind, though he'll need to find some of those pieces of paper that determine it to be sure. Sasuke's was probably different, too.

Sasuke wasn't much better off. His skill with ninjutsu and genjutsu suffered heavily from his suddenly weakened chakra; the latter even more so for the lack of the Sharingan. His speed was basically gone, now and, like Naruto, most of the jutsu he'd grown to rely on were now unusable, for one reason or another.

They were both going to have to crawl their way up from the bottom. Again.

And their lack of power lead to worse issues.

There was so much they couldn't do. They didn't have the power or the authority to do much of anything in this time period.

All they had was time. Decades of it. They could – no, they _would_ get stronger. They could change _everything_

That didn't make it less annoying, though, since _everything_ was so far away. And the years must have dulled his memory of how…menial being an ordinary Genin was.

He hoped Sarutobi would let them take the Chunin Exam when it rolled around; the thought alone of a whole year of this made him want to cry.

**XxXXxX**

Sasuke pulled himself out of the water for the third time.

He probably would have been annoyed if he hadn't expected this to happen.

Besides, he's almost gotten it that time.

He turned back to the water and extended his hand. He pulled Naruto out after he took his hand.

"Thanks." Naruto said, before shaking himself like a dog.

"You almost had it that time, boys." Sarutobi shouted from the middle of the water. Tsunade was right next to him, or rather, he was following Tsunade, who'd gotten it on her first try, around, just in case she fell in.

He'd chosen this spot because the water was shallow near the shore, so even if they fell in it shouldn't be a problem even if they could swim.

Sarutobi was quite protective of his students, it seemed.

Putting those thoughts away, Sasuke carefully stepped onto the water. He'd almost had it that time, so he just had to remember the feeling…

There. The water felt solid beneath his foot. He stepped completely onto the water and stilled. It remained solid.

He looked behind him at Naruto who followed a moment after. His first step sank into the water slowly, but when he took another step in, it stopped at the surface, allowing him to pull his other leg out.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow and Naruto nodded in response.

They began walking further from the shore. A few times, Sasuke felt like the water was about to give way, but he adjusted his control immediately, keeping himself from falling in.

"Be careful!" Sarutobi warned, already herding Tsunade towards them.

They met halfway, as the boys picked up speed when they were sure they could stay about the water.

"Good job, all of you. Mere days after becoming Genin and you've learnt Shunshin, Tree Climbing, and Water Walking." He praised. "In all honesty, you all are probably ready for C-rank missions."

_That_ immediately caught Naruto and Sasuke's attention.

"But even so, it'll be awhile before we take any." He said, crushing their hopes of something more exciting. He lifted a hand to halt any complaints. "It's not because you're young or that I think you can't handle it. You're old enough to by Genin and Advanced Genin at that; you could handle a C-rank mission easily, unless something went horribly wrong, and even then, I'd be there to help. However…"

He knelt down upon the water so that he was eye level with his students.

"To be a shinobi often means doing things that are unpleasant. This includes battles and putting your life on the line, of course, and D-rank missions don't really prepare for that, but…it also includes boring things. Like waiting on watch duty for hours or making long journeys to deliver packages; things that aren't necessarily hard, but are long and tiresome. And D-ranks _do_ prepare you for those things. They develop patience and teach that even if the job is boring or unpleasant, it still needs to be done, and that's one of the most important lessons for a ninja to learn. Do you understand that?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded their heads after a moment of thought.

Doing what you have to do, even if it's unpleasant? They understood that all too well. The thought of living out decades just to change things for the better was daunting, but they would do it. Training the bodies of six year olds into powerful ninja was going to take a long time, but they'd do that too.

They understood what their teacher meant.

Sarutobi smiled.

"I'm glad. So, even though it isn't fun or what you probably thought you'd be doing when you became ninjas…I'd like for you to continue with D-rank missions for the time being. After you've all done sixteen D-rank missions, we'll start adding C-rank missions to the mix every once in awhile, okay?"

"Hai, sensei."

**XxXXxX**

"What are you going to do about Danzo?" Naruto asked later. They were at what was becoming their training ground.

Sasuke looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Nothing." He said. "I'm a genin; he's a jounin. I have no proof that he's done anything wrong, since he _hasn't_ done anything yet. I'm a child that's trained under Sarutobi for a few days and he's been friends with him for years. I couldn't do anything even if I tried."

Naruto looked at him carefully.

"And are you okay with that?"

"No." Sasuke replied honestly.

Naruto pondered silently for a minute before speaking.

"Those things he did…we don't have to let him do that again. When we get strong we can stop him." He said. "And…Danzo is a different person in this time. We don't have to let him become who he was in our time."

"I know." Sasuke replied after a minute. "And that's the hardest thing for me. There are so many things I can change…that I'm going to change. My brother…my clan…even the village. I want to change and I will. But after I do, they aren't going to be anything like they were. And maybe that's what's best for them…but our timeline is going to die, in that it will never have existed at all."

Naruto hadn't really thought of it in those terms.

"Maybe that's the way things should be." He said.

Sasuke looked at him curiously.

"Do you really think that?"

"…No." He had to admit. "A lot of things happened, but…it brought out the best in a lot of people. The worst, too, of course, but…there's going to be a lot of heroes that will never be born, aren't there?"

"Yeah."

"And a lot of wonders and joys that will never be. And…a lot of people made choices that we're going to erase and write over." Naruto glanced at the ground for a minute before looking up. "And…if I had a way of keeping the world where all those things existed and still protect everyone…I'd take that choice over coming back. But I didn't."

Sasuke nodded.

"I know. There's a reason I came back with you." He said. "We'll change everything. And that thought makes me happy and sad, but I still think it's the right thing to do."

"This conversation is getting kind of depressing." Naruto said after a minute. "Let's train or something."

Sasuke nodded and put his hands in the Ram seal.

"Follow me." He said, before flickering away. Naruto was just a step behind him. They landed beside the lake from earlier.

"I want to try something, but if something goes wrong, I don't want to drown. God, that would be humiliating." He said in response to Naruto's inquisitive glance.

He stepped onto the water staying atop its surface without another word and kept his hands in the Ram seal. He flickered again, this time across the water and back. Naruto could only tell by the disturbed water his movements left behind.

"That went well." Sasuke said.

"Using Shunshin while Water Walking…" Naruto observed. In their time, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but… "Are you sure your body has the control for that?"

"No, which was why I brought you." Sasuke replied.

He then flickered again, running across and back.

He managed to cross it fine seventeen times, but when he tried crossing back on the eighteenth, he fell in halfway.

"Tch." Naruto said, stepping on the water as well, already making the Ram seal. He crossed the lake in an instant, plucking Sasuke out of the water as he passed.

"Did you lose control or did you just run out of chakra?" He asked after setting his panting friend down.

"A little of column A; a little of column B." Sasuke replied.

Naruto sighed.

"If I gave it a try now, do you have enough energy to rescue me if I fall in?"

Sasuke pondered.

"If you give me five minutes." He said.

Naruto sat down beside him.

**XxXXxX**


	3. Chapter 3: Moving Up In the World

**All That's Old Is New Again**

**Moving Up In the World**

It turned out that Team Hiruzen's first C-rank mission was fairly normal for its rank. When Naruto and Sasuke heard they were going on another escort mission, they were fully prepared to be attacked by high-level missing-nin like they had been on the way to Wave.

They weren't. Apparently clients that lied to ninja villages about the rank of their missions were pretty rare. Probably because the number of shinobi that would choose to continue a mission that threatened their lives while being underpaid was probably equally low.

Maybe Team Kakashi wasn't the best example of an average genin team.

Still, for a team that was supposed to become some of the most famous ninja in the world, their beginnings were a bit dull. The only exciting thing that happened on the trip to the edge of Fire Country was a small attack from bandits that was easily scattered. It was kind of funny really, seeing them realized how hopelessly outclassed they were. Naruto and Sasuke had a quick game a Janken to see who'd get to do it, which was interrupted by their teacher's arrival.

One of the bandits had recognized the Hokage and that had been that.

In all honesty, Naruto and Sasuke were getting stir-crazy. This was just so…frustrating. They couldn't do anything and they had nothing to do. They knew they had no choice but to live things out at this point, so that was what they would do, but…

They were both quickly getting to the point where if something interesting didn't happen soon, they'd probably do something stupid just to stave off boredom.

"Oi, teme!" Naruto said excitedly, sitting on top of a training stump.

Sasuke sighed tiredly, not even bothering to sit up from the grass. They were still in their training area. The trees and grass nearby were still recovering from a few experiments that had gone awry and the training posts had been through hell since they didn't have anything better to do, but it was still theirs.

"What is it?"

"We have a visitor!" The former Jinchuuriki said, sounding strangely pleased.

Sasuke sighed again, but rolled over to look. A sarcastic remark almost left his lips, but he went silent when he saw who it was.

For a moment, he thought he was looking at a young Kakashi, but he immediately reminded himself that was impossible. They were much too far back for Kakashi to have been born yet. Even so, the resemblance was obvious and Sasuke immediately began to think of him as a relative of Kakashi's. Probably his father. Or…were they far back enough for this to be a grandfather?

Either way, his interest had been garnered.

The boy, who Sasuke guessed to be ten-ish, stopped a bit away from them, careful to avoid the patches of grass that had been burnt by an attempt at fire jutsu that had failed. He looked attentive, which surprised both of Kakashi's former students; Kakashi always paid attention to what was around him, but it was rare that he was so obvious about it.

But then, this wasn't Kakashi.

"Can we help you?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"You are…Jiraiya-kun and Orochimaru-kun, right?" The man said. Sasuke wasn't sure how to feel about that suffix, but he was still getting used to the name itself, so he didn't comment.

"That's us!" Naruto said, loudly. It seems that he was getting back to his usual self. One of the benefits of not having to fight for his life constantly, Sasuke supposed. "Who're you?"

The boy tilted his head, looking at Jiraiya. Suddenly, he seemed unsure of what to say.

"I…heard that Hokage-sama had taken on a few students that were proving themselves very impressive. But…well, I'd heard you were young, but…" The boy suddenly shook his head, apparently only now realizing that he'd ignored Naruto's question. "I'm Hatake Sakumo. I'm sorry."

Sakumo apologized and then tried to excuse himself. His words hurt Sasuke's pride, mainly because a lot of things had been reminding him of how weak he was lately. Naruto just looked confused.

Sasuke glanced at him in disgusted and smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! What hell was that for, asshole!" Naruto immediately complained.

"He wanted a fight, dobe." Sasuke said. "He just hadn't heard how pathetic we look."

"What! Don't let him get away! This could be the best thing that's happened since the Bell Test!" He suddenly lifted his voice as he pushed himself off the stump and started after the retreating Sakumo. "Hey, you! Come back here!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but didn't stop his friend.

He couldn't say he disagreed or that he couldn't use a fight right now.

A quick Shunshin placed him in front of Sakumo.

"Hold up for a minute." He said. "You came here to see what we could do…or am I wrong?"

The 'older' boy blinked once before suddenly being tackled from behind by Naruto.

"Then fight us!" The louder of the pair said. "Come on; it'll be fun!"

**XxXXxX**

To say that Sakumo _accepted_ could be seen as an exaggeration, perhaps. Rather, it could be said that while Naruto clung to the older boys back and demanded amusement, Sasuke began to get annoyed. And an annoyed Sasuke was an aggressive Sasuke.

It had quickly degenerated from there.

Sakumo used Kawarimi to replace himself with a log, avoiding Naruto's punch, but Sasuke managed to track the direction he went in by the disturbances he left on the grass. A quick Shunshin took him to a tree in Sakumo's blind spot, where Sasuke landed on a branch and broke it with a swift, chakra-enhanced kick.

The resulting noise could be heard across the training grounds.

Sakumo immediately turned around, but Sasuke used Shunshin again before he could come into his opponent's field of vision, landing on the trunk of Sakumo's tree. With his head now turned, Sakumo couldn't see this spot, a fact that Sasuke immediately took advantage of to attack with a kick to Sakumo's head.

Sakumo managed to duck beneath the attack and Sasuke dispassionately noted that he was pretty fast for a Genin.

It didn't matter.

Naruto, who'd been signaled to their position by the broken branch, kicked the ducking Sakumo in the face the moment he turned towards Sasuke, knocking him off the branch.

Sakumo recovered from the fall well enough, contorting in mid-air to try to catch a tree with his feet. Partially to stick to, but mostly because he realized why they'd kicked him off the branch.

As a result, he also realized why he wasn't going to be able to.

Shunshin is an extremely useful technique. Despite being a D-Rank jutsu that most ninja learn just shortly after becoming Genin, it's also a jutsu that most keep with them for life. Its concept is simple; charge your body with chakra and move at high speeds.

However, there was a problem with it; it was still constrained by the limits of movement.

And when falling, with nothing to stand on or jump from, Shunshin simply doesn't work.

One of the things that makes the Tree Climbing exercise useful is the way it expands one's ability to move, and that applies to the Shunshin as well, of course. However, until the moment your feet hit something, you're left wide open.

Naruto and Sasuke had no intention of letting that chance pass them by. With a solid branch beneath their feet, the duo used Shunshin to meet Sakumo in midair before he could hit the ground.

Of course, while the weakness of the Shunshin was important, it was also well know, and a number of methods had been developed to deal with it.

The simplest was the Kawarimi.

Sasuke reached him first, but Sakumo had been making seals since the moment his feet left the branch. As Sasuke punched at his face, Sakumo blocked it with one hand, twisting both Sasuke and himself in midair, switching their positions. Sakumo promptly used Sasuke's body to jump away, heading for a nearby tree.

Sasuke was both annoyed and amused; annoyed at having his own strategy used against them, as now they were the ones unable to change direction, but amused, because this was pretty good.

For a Genin.

Naruto collided with him a moment later, but Sasuke grabbed his friend and threw him towards the ground. Naruto landed on his feet and, knowing better then to worry about Sasuke over something like this, promptly activated Shunshin again, trying to make it to that tree before Sakumo did.

Sasuke landed on his feet and noticed absently how hard he was panting. God he hated having so little chakra, but he was having too much fun to care about that overmuch.

He confirmed where Naruto and Sakumo were and noticed that they were already going at it with Taijutsu. He immediately Shunshin'd.

In a completely different direction.

He ran until he felt he was out of sight, before curving around. This path should take him to behind Sakumo, unless they moved, in which case Naruto would give him a signal.

But they hadn't moved and Sasuke assumed they were both as tired as he was. He came up behind Sakumo, landing silently behind him, but the Genin struck behind him without even looking.

Naruto used a Kawarimi to switch places with him and caught the blow with both arms.

"Behind you~" He said, his smile more than a little smug. Sasuke was struck with a flash of melancholy over how different that grin looked without whisker marks.

He didn't let it slow him down, though, quickly going for a punch to Sakumo's face.

Sakumo swung his head around as fast as he could, along with his free hand, attempting to counter the blow-

Naruto switched with him again, putting them both back in their original positions. The boy's smile widened.

"Here I am~"

Sasuke punched Sakumo in the face.

**XxXXxX**

The fight ended in a victory for Naruto and Sasuke and left Sakumo impressed.

"Wow, are you two really new at this?" He had to ask.

No, they both thought, but the smiled at his words nonetheless.

"We're just really good." Naruto said proudly.

"I've never seen fresh genin work as well together as you two. You must be pretty close." Sakumo observed thoughtfully.

Sasuke shrugged.

"We're teammates." He said, trying to seem indifferently.

But the fact remained that he was worried. He'd noticed, too; how they worked to well together for them to be new at this. But, at the same time, they had no reason not to work together and teamwork was important. Passing the Genin Exam…the Chunin Exam…and just surviving as ninja. There was no point in risking any of those things, just to avoid some suspicion.

Besides, he reassured himself, it's unlikely that anyone would be able to come to the correct conclusions when it came to them. 'Ninja from the future that threw themselves back in time but missed' was pretty outlandish even for shinobi.

Sakumo nodded as if that made sense.

"It's just that I heard you two didn't get along so well in the Academy. Most teams like that have trouble for a while." Sakumo said before smirking. "Speaking from experience."

"Sarutobi-sensei is a good teacher." Sasuke said, keeping his voice calm.

"Besides, you can't really keep fighting in front of the Hokage!" Naruto added, helping. "I mean, have you seen him in action? If we got in a fight, we'd both be tied to logs on opposite sides of the training field before we realized what was going on!"

Sakumo chuckled at that before looking at them both speculatively. Sasuke frowned at the look in his eyes; as if he was judging them.

"You two…" He said thoughtfully. "You two are really good. And I heard your other teammate was the granddaughter of the First. You're a bit young, but…then again, the war wasn't _that_ long ago and it's still on everyone's minds…"

Sakumo seemed to be speaking to himself now. Sasuke shot a look at Naruto and frowned. His friend just frowned.

"And we don't really know when…if," Sakumo corrected himself. "Things will degenerate again. But even if it doesn't happen, more ninjas means more missions get done and higher level ninja bring in more cash…"

Sasuke's frown progressively deepened, but it was Naruto who spoke first.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, bewildered.

Sakumo looked at him thoughtfully for another minute before nodding to himself.

"The Chunin Exams are coming up soon. Are you going to participate?"

**XxXXxX**

Sasuke could have said it was because he knew he was ready. He could have said it was to further their plan.

And those were both true.

But they were not the reason why he walked up to his sensei the next day once they had finished both training and missions.

"Sensei, do you think we're a good team?" He asked, bored to D-rank and C-rank missions, as well as being a Genin in general.

Sarutobi looked at him, confused by the sudden question but also able to tell that there was more to it then there seemed.

"What do you mean, Orochimaru?" He asked, carefully.

"Compared to the other Genin teams, are we a good team?" Sasuke repeated, and nearby, Naruto and Tsunade turned towards them in interest. "We're younger than the other teams, but…we've learnt Shunshin and Tree Climbing and Water Walking already. We do more missions then any of the other teams, too."

Sarutobi opened his mouth to say something before suddenly closing it as something occurred to him. He looked at his student differently, then; measuringly.

"Where are you going with this, Orochimaru?"

"The Chunin Exams are coming up." Sasuke replied immediately.

Their teacher sighed, expecting that. He turned his head, looking away from his students, but what Sasuke could see from the side of his face gave away nothing.

"I'm surprised you know about that." He said at last. The Exams weren't really a secret, but the official announcements hadn't been made yet.

"Yesterday, we," Sasuke jerked his head towards Naruto. "Sparred with Sakumo."

Sarutobi looked at them in interest, while Tsunade blinked at her two teammates before drawing back a little, something in her eyes that Sasuke didn't recognize. Naruto just nodded eagerly.

Sasuke was the only one those missions were getting to.

"Did you now?" Sarutobi asked. "And how did it go?"

He sounded like he already knew the answer.

"We won!" Naruto blurted out as Sasuke stared up at his teacher with a slight frown. "Even though we're younger, we're just as good as any of the other teams!"

"Probably." Sarutobi admitted. "But just because you could pass, doesn't mean you should. Why do you want to enter the Exam on your first year? Even though you'll only be fighting other Konoha Shinobi, all of them will have more experience than any of you. At least a year more, in fact, and quite a few of them are twice your age. You are as strong as any other Genin team, but while I know that, they don't. In their eyes, you'll be a team of small children and easy targets. While the Chunin Exam is hard for any Genin, you all would have it the hardest. Though the Chunin Exam is meant to be fair, in this case, all the odds will be against you."

Sasuke blinked his snakelike eyes and nodded.

"True. I want to win, but I can't say if I will. I don't know if I will win or lose; I don't even know what the people I might have to face are capable of. I suppose it's quite possible that I'll fail. But I'm asking you if you'll let me try."

Sarutobi was silent at that.

"Come on, sensei!" Naruto pleaded. "They're older then us, sure, but that doesn't mean they're better."

Tsunade was still looking at them strangely, to the point that Sasuke was getting unsettled. But when she noticed him looking at her, her face became impassive and she looked away.

Had he just been given the cold shoulder?

"I'd also like to participate in the Chunin Exams, sensei." She asked, her tone calm to the point that Sasuke felt sure it was forced. Something in Sarutobi's eyes told him that his teacher saw it as well. He forced himself not to look at Naruto; he was smart enough to notice something this obvious, but he'd talk to him about it later.

For now, Sarutobi had his complete attention.

The older man sighed.

"I'll think about it." He promised.

**XxXXxX**

"Tsunade was acting strange." Sasuke said, sitting besides his fellow time traveler in the yakitori stand. Naruto had been crushed to find that Ichiraku didn't exist yet.

He didn't say it aloud, but he found it amusing that one of the things that hit the former blonde the hardest was the absence of a Ramen Stand.

"Ah…" Naruto said, head on the counter; the despair of their situation had finally defeated the great ninja. "…Yeah. I noticed she was acting a bit strangely."

Well, they thought she was acting strangely. They wouldn't really know, having no memories of these lives prior to the Genin Exams. Maybe this was normal for her. Maybe she didn't like them back in the Academy. Maybe.

Sasuke didn't believe that for a second, but maybe.

Sasuke tried to remain impassive, but he couldn't suppress a sigh.

"…She's noticed we've been acting weirdly." He stated. He didn't have any proof to back that statement up with, but he was sure of it, nonetheless.

"Hm…" Naruto groaned, still not lifting his head. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"…Naruto, I empathize with the loss of your favorite food." Sasuke lied. "Having said that, _get the hell over it_. This is important. _Focus_."

Naruto sighed tiredly, but sat up straight. Sasuke was happy to see that his face was completely serious. Well, as serious as it could be, coming from the face of a young Jiraiya.

"I think the issue here," Naruto began. "Is not so much how we have been acting, as how we've been acting to her."

Sasuke silently stared at him, not understanding.

Naruto sighed in disappointment.

"…I guess you wouldn't notice, since you're such an asshole to begin with, but people don't like to be ignored or left out." Naruto said, speaking from experience. "We've been avoiding Tsunade. We have our reasons for doing so, sure, but she has no way of knowing that."

Sasuke tilted his head to the side.

"We work fine together on missions." He stated, not see the problem.

"Yeah, we work fine together, for a team of heartless killing machines in training. Too bad human beings aren't that simple. Tsunade isn't that simple. Hell, we aren't that simple, even after everything. You actively tried to be like that and you failed; you were just a bigger dick than usual."

Sasuke frowned at him.

"What I'm trying to say is that Tsunade isn't just the token girl that was added to our team so there'd be three people. She's an actual person and we've been avoiding her, because of all the people we have contact with, she's the most likely to notice something's wrong. But from where she's sitting, we're ignoring her and going off on our own to get stronger and stronger and she's being left out for no reason."

Sasuke blinked at him slowly, wondering how he's observed that much, when realization struck and made him roll his eyes.

"Good God; are you still whining about that?" He complained. Needless to say, Sasuke had little sympathy for his friend when it came to the Chunin Exam.

Naruto looked offended.

"I didn't say anything about you." He protested.

"Whine, bitch, moan, repeat." Sasuke said, shaking his head as he ignored his friend.

"Do you want me to kick your ass, teme!"

Sasuke chuckled.

"As fun as sparring with you would be," Sasuke's face went blank. "I have to go home. 'My parents' are waiting."

Naruto shut up. Even he knew this was a touchy subject.

**XxXXxX**


End file.
